The present invention relates to an improved system for installing a printer on a computer or a network of computers.
Existing systems for installing a printer on a computer or a network of computers require the completion of several steps to properly configure the printer for use. Because each of these steps requires the entry of specific, critical configuration parameters, the person installing the printer must have detailed knowledge of the printer, the computer network, and the printing environment provided by the operating system.
For example, when installing a printer within a Windows network environment, many existing systems of installing the printer use vendor-provided utilities to configure the printer while Microsoft-provided utilities configure the client computer and/or the server. With respect to printer configuration, many vendor-provided utilities may require that the Printer IP address be specified, along with the Printer Gateway and, if DNS is supported in the network environment, the Printer DNS name.
With respect to server configuration, Microsoft Windows allows the printer to be configured in one of two configurations. In the first configuration, the printer may be connected for network, or queue-based printing through a server accessible through one or more remote computers, such as a client. Each remote computer sends all print data to the server and receives status information from the server. The remote computer never communicates directly with the device and is unaware of where or how the printer is connected to the server. The server is configured to share the printer and performs all data spooling for the printer. Microsoft provides software in all versions of Windows to configure both the remote computer and the server for network printing. During the configuration process, the remote computer must receive information as to the Windows printer name, the Windows print driver and the print queue location while the printing device must receive information as to the printer IP address, the printer netmask, the printer gateway, and the printer DNS name. In addition, the server must receive information as to the printer IP address, the printer DNS name, the Windows printer name, the Windows print driver, any alternate OS print drivers and the print queue location.
In an alternate configuration, the printer may be configured for remote printing—a special class of local printing where the printer is connected through a network. A computer performs its own data spooling and communicates directly with the printer for status and data output. If more than one computer is connected to the printer for remote printing, the printer will prioritize print job requests. The software component used to communicate directly with the device is called a port monitor. Port monitors are specific to the device that they communicate with, and are usually supplied by the device manufacturer. When configuring a printer for remote printing, the computer must receive information as to the printer IP address, the printer DNS name, the Windows printer name and the Windows print driver. If the computer acts as a server for one or more other remote computers, the computer must also receive information as to any alternate OS print drivers and the print queue location.
When installing and configuring a new printer, the person installing the printer may not know or have ready access to the specific configuration parameters necessary to configure the printer, the computer, and the server, if any. If a printer is connected to a server for use by one or more remote computers, an additional problem often occurs because the remote computer identifies the printer by either the printer's IP address or DNS name, or some other alphanumeric string that has little meaning to the user. Thus, if more than one printer is connected to the server, the user may not be able to easily identify which printer has received and printed the desired print job.
Some existing systems for printer configuration have attempted to address these problems. One such existing system, for example, configures the printer and the computer from the same installation tool using a novice-friendly wizard that presents simple questions to the person installing the printer using non-technical terms. This installation tool, though, does not support server usage of the client computer. If the client computer is to be used as a server, the person installing the printer must therefore input all needed parameters. In addition, this system still identifies the printer using only a non-intuitive alphanumeric string, making it difficult for a user to identify which computer is receiving a print job.
What is needed, then, is a printer installation tool that is targeted towards non-technical users, uses non-technical terms, supports configuration of the client computer as a server, and identifies the installed computer by an identifier that allows a user to intuitively identify that particular printer, even where multiple printers are accessible through a network.